Chapter 1 A Treasure Mountain

Before him was a mountain of treasures, yet he could only return empty-handed. Nie Yan couldn't help but feel dejected.

This area was where fifth-tier creatures roamed. There were many of them, such as Flame Earth Dragons and Elemental Giants. Nie Yan cautiously avoided them, constantly expanding his search range. After passing through an area populated by third-tier monsters, he finally arrived at a map where first-tier creatures spawned.

Nie Yan's eyes locked onto a Dark Mammoth. This creature resembled an elephant in appearance, but it was slightly larger. It had long tusks that extended about two yards, reaching all the way to the ground. The sharp tusks were like pointed cones.

He slowly crept closer and cast a Detect on the mammoth.

Dark Mammoth: Tier 1 Creature.

Nie Yan checked the Dark Mammoth's health. It had over 30,000 HP.

He could only try to kill it.

If he couldn't even take down a first-tier Dark Mammoth, he might as well pack up and go home. The Dark Mammoth was already the lowest-tier creature in the Ancient World.

However, the Dark Mammoth was so huge, he had no idea how to approach it. Skills like Spine Break would definitely be useless.

After thinking for a moment, he figured Shadow Dance might work.

The Dark Mammoth was foraging on the spot, its food being the wild grass growing on the ground.

Nie Yan took out the Headless Horseman Doro's Riding Crossbow, loaded it with several arrows, raised it, aimed at the Dark Mammoth's head, and pulled the trigger. Swish, swish, swish, five arrows shot towards the Dark Mammoth.

Thunk, thunk, thunk. All the arrows hit the Dark Mammoth, and damage numbers of two or three hundred floated above its head.

Attacked, the Dark Mammoth immediately flew into a rage and charged towards Nie Yan.

Roar! The Dark Mammoth roared, charging like a heavy tank. The ground shook as it trampled forward.

The Dark Mammoth swung its head violently, its long tusks sweeping towards Nie Yan.

Nie Yan jumped away, supporting himself with his right hand, leaping more than three yards away, dodging the Dark Mammoth's charge. He suddenly accelerated, and the Zennarde's Sword in his hand slashed across the Dark Mammoth's body. With a soft thud, the sharp Zennarde's Sword sliced through the Dark Mammoth's tough hide, and blood spurted out.

The Dark Mammoth's trunk swung over.

Nie Yan did a backflip, dodging the Dark Mammoth's attack.

The Dark Mammoth kept chasing Nie Yan. Nie Yan dodged the Dark Mammoth's attacks in various ways. As the battle deepened, he became more and more surprised. He found that he was much freer when fighting now than before. He could use skills at will, with fewer skill restrictions.

Is this the feeling of Shadow Dance? Nie Yan thought excitedly. Although he hadn't successfully changed classes, his current fighting style was already very similar to Shadow Dance.

The Dark Mammoth suddenly accelerated forward.

Nie Yan used Shadow Dance, dodging the Dark Mammoth's charge. His right elbow struck fiercely. With a loud bang, his elbow hit the Dark Mammoth's left forehead. The Dark Mammoth was hit hard, staggering back a few steps, shaking its head, showing signs of dizziness.

Could an ordinary elbow strike cause dizziness?

Nie Yan thought in surprise. He gradually understood that Shadow Dance would be a completely new combat system. Any move in Shadow Dance, even the most basic kick, elbow strike, or punch, could become a powerful weapon to threaten the opponent. Compared to warrior classes, their attack power might not be as strong, but they were more agile!

After realizing some of this, the Dark Mammoth was doomed. No matter how it charged, attacked, or swept with its tusks, it was difficult to hit Nie Yan. On the contrary, Nie Yan could easily give the Dark Mammoth heavy blows, hindering its movements.

Soon, the Dark Mammoth's health dropped rapidly. Seeing that its health was only a little over 3,000, the Dark Mammoth roared and charged towards Nie Yan.

The Dark Mammoth was getting closer and closer. Nie Yan stepped back a few steps and shouted in a low voice, raising his foot for a kick.

This was Nie Yan's charged strike, kicking the Dark Mammoth in the forehead.

The Dark Mammoth's head slammed heavily on the ground. Nie Yan jumped high, and the Zennarde's Sword in his hand slashed down, piercing deep into the Dark Mammoth's neck.

The Dark Mammoth whimpered and lay on the ground, unable to move.

Nie Yan checked his experience points. His experience hadn't increased. However, this battle made him feel a whole new world.

After searching, the Dark Mammoth didn't drop anything.

Nie Yan was depressed. These monsters neither gave experience nor dropped anything. They were too stingy.

After killing the Dark Mammoth, Nie Yan suddenly received a system notification.

Holy Shadow Dance Class Change Quest: Quest progress 1, kill 500 first-tier creatures.

Finally, he received the notification for the Holy Shadow Dance class change quest. The first step required killing 500 first-tier creatures. The number was quite large, but the quest difficulty was not high.

Since the Dark Mammoth didn't drop anything, Nie Yan could only give up. He turned to leave, walking a few hundred yards when he suddenly remembered something. He ran back to the Dark Mammoth's corpse, chopped at the Dark Mammoth's head, and then slowly cut it open, taking out a emerald green crystal from inside.

That was it!

This emerald green crystal was a first-tier crystal core.

Compared to ordinary equipment and gems, this crystal core was the most valuable. It could be used to feed the Darkwing Dragon to advance it.

Collect more crystal cores first, and feed the Darkwing Dragon after returning, Nie Yan thought. After taking out the crystal core, the Dark Mammoth's body quickly disappeared, being purified. The Dark Mammoth also belonged to the dark creatures!

Seeing that nothing was left behind, Nie Yan flew away into the distance.

He wanted to collect enough crystal cores for future use. In addition to first-tier ones, he also wanted second-tier, third-tier, and even higher-tier ones. The more, the better. The number of crystal cores needed for the Darkwing Dragon to advance in the future was very large. This was definitely a good place to obtain crystal cores.

Currently, the Darkwing Dragon was only sixth-tier, yet it was already impossible to find a flying mount that could match it. If it rose higher, to seventh-tier, eighth-tier, or even higher, it would be invincible.

He should do the first quest progress for the Holy Shadow Dance class change quest first, Nie Yan estimated. To kill 500 first-tier creatures, it would probably take at least seven or eight days. If the speed was slow, he might not even be able to complete it in seven or eight days.

Nie Yan began his journey to refresh first-tier creatures and collect crystal cores, refreshing first-tier creatures non-stop. The number of crystal cores collected increased. After about five or six hours, he had collected more than thirty.

In addition to first-tier creatures, he also began to tentatively deal with some second-tier creatures. Time passed quickly in the Ancient World.